Police on Sunday afternoon arrested the key player, a BJP leader, in connection with the embezzlement of more than Rs 5 crore under MGNREGA in Sendhwa.

Police on Sunday afternoon arrested the key player, a BJP leader, in connection with the embezzlement of more than Rs 5 crore under MGNREGA in Sendhwa.

According to police sources, former BJP councillor Sendhwa, Gopal Goyal was arrested and produced before a judge. The judge sent Goyal to police remand for two days. With the arrest of Goyal, the number of accused arrested in the case has reached to 15.

Barwani SP Tilak Singh said Goyal gave the filled cheques to proprietors of the firms, who withdrew the money from the bank, and handed over it to Goyal.

The politician has admitted that he handed over the amount to then chief executive officer of Janpad Panchayat Sendhwa, Lakhan Singh Rajput, the prime accused in the case, police said.

Singh added that the police are considering to cancel the anticipatory bail granted Rajput two years back, as he is not fulfilling the norms of bail, which instructed him to appear before Sendhwa city police station every month.

The SP added Rajput and the then bank manager of SBI Malwa branch Rajesh Hadge will be grilled, as Goyal has mentioned their names during investigation.

Rajput, Hadge and Goyal had conspired the scam in 2012. The trio opened fake accounts of 23 village panchayats under Sendhwa Janpad Panchayat. They also opened accounts of fake firms with the help of Vijay Jain, Vikas Khandelwal and Prakash Paliwal.

Rajput deposited more than `5 crore 32 lakh in 23 accounts of village panchayats in the name of various developmental works under MNREGA. With the help of other accused, he managed to withdraw the amount and deposited it in fake firms’ accounts, posing to purchase various materials.

Later, the firms’ proprietors withdrew the amount and handed it over to Goyal. They also received their share, said the SP.